With so much life ahead of you, getting into a car accident is the last thing you would want to be…
But it happened to me, an accident that left me in a horrible pain that was paralyzing. Many nights, I would be crying hysterically for the excruciating pain in my back. And to calm me down my fiancee would try to rub my back but it only intensified the pain.
I just felt helpless.
At work, just sitting down was killing me. And to make matters worse, I suffered from reproductive issues, leaving me with no energy, zero libido that made my fiancee thought I was no longer attracted to him. At 25, I felt life has been zapped out of me…
I tried every available medication there is to ease the suffering but nothing really worked. So I had to ask my doctor for help who provided me with some prescriptions.
I took three different prescription pills. But nothing touched the pain. Baclofen actually made me feel like I was having a heart attack and caused panic attacks. So I told my doctor about these side effects I was going through and all she had to say was, “just take it at night before you go to sleep.” It just felt hopeless.
Not getting relief from the medications to ease my back pain, my attention was shifted to medical marijuana after I started seeing some states legalizing the drug for medical purposes. I got curious and went ahead and started my research.
I remember having tried marijuana in my teenage years and was using it on a regular basis until I was 21. I actually had convinced myself that time that cannabis was a bad drug and that I was addicted to it. But I don’t recall any kind of withdrawal effect though. By that time, I stopped using the drug, drinking started to take over.
Back to reality, I did my research on how cannabis helped in pain management which seemed to be promising. And for someone like me, who was not getting help from prescription pills at all, I had nothing to lose if I tried.
I decided to smoke marijuana again. Two hits were all I needed to calm the nerve pain in my back. No more stiffness! It was almost instant! For the longest time, I’ve never felt better. And now, it’s been 6 months since I’ve had back pain. The only thing I’ve done differently is used cannabis.
I feel energized.
I’ve started working out again like I did before my car accident. It just felt so good being slowly back on track with life. And along with it, my libido has also greatly improved. I’ve started feeling like myself again.
For now, I keep my cannabis ritual typically by smoking. I have tried consuming edibles occasionally. And this regimen has worked out for me to be in better shape and condition.
My journey to recovery with medical marijuana hasn’t been easy though as family members have not been very supportive at the start. They think it’s for “lazy hippies.” Well, they are people who have never consumed the plant and haven’t experienced what I’ve gone through, so I can’t blame them. Besides, with all the negative propaganda about marijuana that has been injected in our culture for generations, the stigma can’t be denied despite all the research and studies proving its medical benefits.
Anyhow, I continued my cannabis medication. I’ve been open with my family despite the skepticism, telling them this is all that works for me. Gradually, they have started to come around seeing how I’ve been able to slowly get back with my life.
Reflecting on my experience with cannabis, I realized that in general, people just hate it because it’s been drilled into everyone’s head how it’s a drug! Being classified as Schedule I drug, it is just very difficult to get medication because the government is so against it for no reason. Medical cards are super difficult to acquire, and the prices are just unreasonably high to keep up with the medication. And in my state, there are only three (3) dispensaries.
But I have no choice, this is all that works for me now. Hence I am sharing my story with everyone hoping that somehow it will in any way help remove the stigma on cannabis. There is just a deep need for people to be educated on the true effects of cannabis.
Therefore, I am calling other medical cannabis users out there to share your experiences. Maybe one day, if enough people feel comfortable sharing, the government will legalize it and regulate it like tobacco.
Has cannabis helped your health and life in general?
Share it with our community in the comment section below or contact us and your story may be the next to be featured.
- The April Barnes Story – How Cannabis Helped Me Getting My Life Back - April 28, 2017
